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January 21, 2023 - 7:00 AM
While sub-zero temperatures have been rare so far this year in the Okanagan and Kamloops, don’t get out the shorts and T-shirts just yet.
“I would not say winter is over,” Environment Canada meteorologist Alyssa Charbonneau told iNFOnews.ca today, Jan. 20. “You can never say that in the middle of January because there’s still so much unknown ahead of us.”
Certainly, she pointed out, January has been warmer than normal following the “incredibly cold spell” the region experienced in December.
In fact, snow hit the region on Nov. 4 and there were few days when high temperatures were much above the freezing mark until Boxing Day.
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Since then, only one day in January had a high temperature that was below zero. For Kamloops, that was Jan. 3 when it only got to -2.3 Celsius. For Kelowna, Jan. 2 was the coldest day with a high of -0.2 C.
That pattern is looking to continue for much of the next week, although there could be a couple of days this weekend or Monday where it may stay below freezing.
“Our long-range forecast has been hinting at colder than normal conditions returning for February,” Charbonneau said. “Maybe about Jan. 30, through the first week of February, we are seeing a colder than normal trend.”
Normally the high temperature for this time of year is around 0 C in Kamloops and the Okanagan, with lows down to -7 C.
“It’s uncertain how long (the cold) will last – whether it will be all the month of February or whether it will moderate as we get into it,” Charbonneau said.
It’s much harder to forecast precipitation over the longer term but it looks like a drier than normal week ahead, she said.
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